Rumblings of 'Dinosaur Train' Heard at PBS
The Jim Henson Company series is in production for 40 half-hour episodes
By David Tanklefsky -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/7/2009 7:58:00 PM
The Jim Henson Company has reached an agreement with PBS Kids to debut Dinosaur Train, which promotes basic scientific analysis and skills, in fall 2009.
The show, created by Craig Bartlett (Hey Arnold!), is now in production for 40 half-hour episodes. PBS plans to have a wide-ranging interactive Web site component of the show at pbskids.org with games, learning tools, and teacher resources. PBS will also handle consumer and educational distribution of the program.
“Based on input from paleontologists, science educators, and early childhood education experts, Dinosaur Train has developed an ambitious and creative curriculum that harnesses children’s enthusiasm for and curiosity about dinosaurs, sparking children’s interest in life science and natural history,” said Lisa Henson, co-CEO of The Jim Henson Company.
The show is about pre-school aged Buddy, a CGI-animated Tyrannosaurus Rex, and his adoptive family of Pteranodons traveling through different eras on the "Dinosaur Train" to learn more about the creatures.
“PBS is thrilled to bring in a second series from The Jim Henson Company,” said John Boland, chief content officer at PBS. The Jim Henson Company also produces Sid the Science Kid for PBS. “Dinosaur Train extends our mutual vision of creating quality educational preschool programming,” Boland added.
Read about Jim Henson and the history of Sesame Street in this week’s BC Beat.
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